@benrothenberg.bsky.social
Please do check out my tennis writing, BOUNCES, at benrothenberg.com
Djokovic on Musetti:
"He was a far better player. I was on my way home tonight. Don't know what to say...being in full control, so unfortunate...he should've been the winner today, there's no doubt."
Novak Djokovic, who won zero sets in the fourth round and zero sets in the quarterfinals, is through to the Australian Open semifinals.
If this tournament doesn't feel like destiny for him at this point, what possibly could?
Musetti up two sets to none and suddenly struggling to move after a medical timeout on his right thigh, so he's trying to shorten points drastically.
Signs of life for Djokovic?
Bounces chat threads are back for today's stacked Australian Open quarterfinal lineup!
Should be a fun time, so I hope you can join us for some second screen chatter with your fellow Bounces subscribers!
bit.ly/AusOpenQFChat
Surprised more players don’t complain about the constant surveillance of the cameras behind the scenes at the Australian Open, as Coco Gauff was very justified to do tonight.
As I wrote for NYT in 2019, “the Happy Slam has become the Orwellian Open.”
www.nytimes.com/2019/01/26/s...
The Australian Open Heat Stress Scale has hit the full 5.0; it doesn’t go higher than this.
Read up on the science, fairness, and transparency issues at play in this topic:
www.benrothenberg.com/p/australian...
News: The Athletic has reported that the WTA is investigating Peyton Stearns coach Rafael Font de Mora after complaints from Pam Shriver and 1 other former WTA player that remains anonymous but they worked with him early in her career.
www.nytimes.com/athletic/699...
New at Bounces:
An interview with Carolyn Broderick, the chief medical officer of the Australian Open, on the tournament's heat policies.
Science, sports, fairness, transparency--there's a lot in here, and hopefully it can shed light on a hazy topic:
www.benrothenberg.com/p/australian...
Before Iva Jovic takes court for her Australian Open quarterfinal as the latest teen prodigy in tennis, read up on the family that inspires confidence in this often perilous world of tennis:
27.01.2026 00:03 — 👍 6 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
Not even 11 am yet and already the heat stress scale is ticking upward…
(More on how the system works very soon on Bounces, just finishing it up.)
Enjoyed chatting with Bojan Jovic, father of Australian Open quarterfinalist Iva Jovic, about how his family has worked toward patience and protection of their daughter as she enters the perilous world of tennis stardom.
Read at Bounces:
www.benrothenberg.com/p/iva-jovic-...
Enjoyed chatting with Bojan Jovic, father of Australian open quarterfinalist Iva Jovic, about how his family has worked toward patience and protection of their daughter as she enters the perilous world of tennis stardom.
Read at Bounces:
www.benrothenberg.com/p/iva-jovic-...
I think the weather right now could be a major concern for Jannik Sinner as he walks onto Margaret Court Arena.
It’s hot but not hot enough to close the roof. How quickly it might cool off isn’t clear.
Not as hot as it’s going to be tomorrow, but still pretty toasty out there right now at the Australian Open…
26.01.2026 04:24 — 👍 13 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
On what felt like a minor high holy day for tennis congregants, Learner Tien played divinely against Daniil Medvedev.
Read at Bounces:
www.benrothenberg.com/p/learner-ti...
Bumping @benrothenberg.bsky.social and his chat with Learner and coach Michael Chang. Ben asked them both what needed to be done to close the gap between them and Sincaraz? Learner started listing stuff, and then Michael was like wait a minute
25.01.2026 09:01 — 👍 39 🔁 5 💬 2 📌 0
Not the crowd or the buzz yet that Tien-Medvedev IV deserves, but I am #seated.
25.01.2026 07:30 — 👍 30 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0Very short notice I realize, but if anyone in Melbourne wants a ticket to see Gianmarco Soresi @gianmarcosoresi.bsky.social in an hour, I can’t make it for Tien-Medvedev reasons and will happily send it over!
25.01.2026 07:00 — 👍 12 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 1Golly gosh is Victoria Mboko a good competitor.
25.01.2026 02:00 — 👍 50 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 1
New Australian Open Bounces about Jannik Sinner escaping the heat and that time a tree fell on my head.
Free for all to read, but please do subscribe!
www.benrothenberg.com/p/jannik-sin...
Australian Open women's fourth round set:
Sabalenka-Mboko
Putintseva-Jovic
Gauff-Muchova
Svitolina-Andreeva
Pegula-Keys
Wang-Anisimova
Mertens-Rybakina
Inglis-Swiatek
New:
Two-time champion Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the Australian Open ahead of tonight’s match with qualifier Maddison Inglis, citing an injury.
Yep, this is correct.
24.01.2026 04:01 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Wowza, two breaks in a row for Eliot Spizzirri, and he’s going to serve for the first set at 5-4 against double defending champ Jannik Sinner.
24.01.2026 02:04 — 👍 14 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 2Machac has called for the doctor, the physio, and pickle juice
they haven't even completed one set yet
In the latest Bounces, a look at Stan Wawrinka's far greater success in best-of-five than best-of-three.
He's just an entirely different player.
Also, concerns about Saturday's high heat, given Tennis Australia's spotty record on this issue.
Read:
www.benrothenberg.com/p/stan-wawri...
Love this unexpected doubles exchange with Learner Tien in a great interview with @benrothenberg.bsky.social
One of his biggest goals in 2026?Apparently cracking top 100 in doubles 🤔
they've achieved tennis kumon
22.01.2026 18:01 — 👍 15 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
New at Bounces:
A roundtable with Learner Tien, the youngest man in the third round of this Australian Open, and his new coach Michael Chang.
Read and subscribe here (with great photos by Regina Cortina):
www.benrothenberg.com/p/learner-ti...
19yo Czech qualifier ranked No.126 Nikola Bartunkova slices and dices and outthinks 10th seed Belinda Bencic to end the Swiss' 12 match win streak to make the third round in her first Grand Slam appearance.
63 06 64.
She is FUN.
